Dawn of the Last Dragon Rider - Chapter 059 - First Quest Part 1 (Patreon)

With Pammon’s help, Kaen’s guidance, and a lot of patience from Hess, they managed to draw what Pammon had seen from the sky.

The main camp with the buildings appeared to have over ten people living and working in it.  Pammon had mentioned he was not sure how many more might be in the buildings but counted what he could see.  The other small camp closer to the road had eight people.

A steady stream of merchants and other people had traveled along the main road as they had made their way out here.  Merchants had hired more guards, and people were traveling in larger groups.  Hess had commented on it the day before that people understood the risks and were doing what they could to make them less of an opportunity for being attacked.

They had set out as the sun had begun to climb into the sky.  Kaen’s horse had been timid this morning when he approached.  Hess had stated they could smell or sense Pammon’s presence on him.  That is why he had kept them in the woods outside of the clearing.

Now they were only about thirty minutes away from the clearing with the small camp.  Pammon was giving Kaen updates every so often.

“This feels just like a quest with your father,” Hess grunted as they moved through the woods.  “Doing something, my gut tells me we shouldn’t, praying it all works out.”

Kaen wanted to chuckle, but he wasn’t sure if he was supposed to.

“It always worked out, though.  Right?”

Grunting, Hess just shrugged and kept moving through the brush. He was almost impossible to hear, even wearing a full set of chain armor as he moved through the forest.  He had his shield out and only one hammer right now.  Kaen had been surprised to see him pack that on his horse but understood a good shield might be useful if he had to draw the attention of everyone.

“Worked out is a weird way of describing things.  If you mean stuff always went elf tits up, then yes, everything always worked out.”

“I’m sorry, I never understood that phrase,” Kaen interrupted.  “What does elf tits up mean?”

Hess’s body started to shake, and Kaen realized as he followed behind him that he was laughing quietly.

“Oh,” Hess answered with a sigh.  “I guess you wouldn’t know about that yet.  It is because female elves' tits always stay perky and point out.  No one knows how or why, but it has been that way for thousands of years.”

Kaen felt his eyes going wide and started to smile.

“Should I…”

“No,” Hess declared as he interrupted him.  “For now, focus on the task at hand.  Worry about breasts another time.”

How do things look from up there? Any changes?

Only five people at the camp that I can see.  They are doing small chores, and one more might be leaving soon as it appears they are packing things into a backpack.  The other three left early this morning for the road.

Hess had believed they were sending scouting parties out on the road, most likely riding in each direction to see if there were any soft targets and to prepare for it.  His concern was that there would be teams of scouts traveling days in each direction which meant there were more than the number of bandits Pammon had counted.  There had to be a brilliant person leading all of this.

How far away are we?

With how slow you walk, it will be days… or just a little while longer.  You are about as far from Hess’s farm was to Minoosh.

A twinge of homesickness hit, but Kaen still chuckled.  He knew they were easily within twenty minutes.  Pammon had started figuring out better ways to describe how far they were away from something by using distances he knew well.

“We are about as far from the bandit's camp as we would be from your farm to Minoosh.”

Coughing for a few seconds, Hess turned, looked at Kaen, and rolled his eyes.

“He is killing me with that one.”

Kaen smiled and nodded.

“Stealth mode time, I guess?”

“Yeah.  From here, no more talking, and stay behind me.  Remember the calls if I use one.”

Moving through a forest while trying to be quiet was not difficult when Hess set the path to follow.  He had asked Hess how high his stealth was years ago and just replied with a high enough.  It seemed impossible that he could move so quietly and smoothly in that armor of his.

You are right on the edge of the opening, and there are only four at the camp, as you will soon see.

Kaen tsked his tongue quietly two times, causing Hess to pause his movements and glance back at him.

Holding up four fingers, he motioned to the direction they were headed.  Hess nodded and started moving toward the clearing.

The trees here were a different type of hardwood than the ones he had fought the orcs at.  They were wide around the base with a bark that one could easily pull off.  These trees had been here for hundreds of years, according to Hess.  A problem was the ten to twenty-foot gaps between the trees.  It allowed for moving through them quickly but provided a limited hiding area.  The needles they dropped carpeted the forest floor, making it easier to sneak around quietly in the woods.

Less than twenty yards later, Kaen could see a few tents, all in rows and laid out in order.  No one was visible yet, but he could tell where they were from Pammon’s watchful eye.

Leading them to a tree closer to the edge of the clearing, Hess motioned for him to keep low and pull out his bow.

Crouching, they made their way to the base of the tree and scouted the clearing.

Three men and a woman were managing chores in the middle of the camp.  There was a good twenty-yard ring of clear space between the first tent and the tree line.  They had obviously prepared to be ready for anyone who came near them.

On the north side of the camp, two men were swinging axes, chopping up wood, and tossing them into a pile.  Both were topless, and Kaen could see they were accustomed to hard work, their upper bodies tanned and rippling with muscles from manual labor.  They were laughing and joking as they cut log after log.

A woman was working on something at a table in the middle of the camp while the last person was not far away, chopping up and preparing food for a pot near him.

“Pammon still hasn’t seen the ones who left, has he?” Hess asked softly.

Kaen shook his head no.

“He can go scout the road or the other camp if you want, but then we won’t have any vision here.”

Hess nodded, frustrated by the knowledge that the guild was completely wrong about how many were involved.  If they left and returned, they could bring enough, but the fact that someone might be robbed or killed in that time left a bad taste in his mouth.

“Can you take out those two in the center of camp?  That would leave us with the other two to the north.”

“And Pammon? Want him to come down and be close?”

“Not yet.  The vision is more important.  Worst case, we make a getaway, and he covers us.  He is our secret weapon if things go south.”

Kaen nodded, pulled two arrows out, and nocked them to the string of his bow.

‘It will be a tough shot, but I am confident I can hit them both.”

“Can you kill them both at the same time?”

Kaen gazed over the distance between him and the two in the center of camp.  The breeze here was steady to the east.  It was not blowing that hard, but the distance was a little over fifty yards.  He was at the range where body mass was more important than a risky head or neck shot.

“I’ll do what I can, but it's going to be tough to promise.  I’m using two piercing arrows to make sure wherever I hit bleeds.”

Hess nodded and shifted his shield and mace.

“When your ready.  I’ll shout if we rush or if we stay low and go slow.”

It’s starting.

Kaen took a few deep breaths, trying to get his lifestone to assist him.  After the third one and no reaction from his lifestone, he knew he was on his own.  One day he would figure out how to activate it.

Hess inched forward, using his shield to provide cover as Kaen stepped out from behind the tree, his bow raised, and the two arrows pointed toward the middle of the camp.

Kaen knew he wouldn’t have a lot of time to stand here, holding the bow drawn. Even with Hess providing a little cover with the shield, if someone paid much attention to this side of the clearing, he had nowhere to hide.

The woman was facing sideways, providing a smaller target compared to the man currently lost in his butchering of something, his back providing a massive target.

With his breath held, he focused on both of them, feeling the skill he was about to use, directing his aim a little and adjusting for the wind.

Both arrows moved the second his fingers left the string, each traveling quickly across the open space. There was an arch in his shot because of the distance.  As both arrows quickly fell from it, Hess was already moving, and Kaen had pulled out another arrow.

The first arrow hit the woman in her arm, ripping through it and into her side.  She let a scream, and Kaen knew it had pierced the bone in her arm when he saw the way it deflected and came out her side.

The second arrow was a better shot, piercing the man’s spinal column halfway up his back, causing him to fall down immediately as it ran through his body.

The woman’s scream alerted the two men who were chopping wood, and they turned, trying to see why their member was crying out.

Hess had maneuvered and was rushing the camp, using the tent to block their vision of him as he ran, bent over slightly.

They are grabbing weapons!  One has a shield and sword, and the other has a bow like you!

Never missing a step, Kaen ran behind Hess, knowing he needed to stay behind him for now.

“Turtle!” Kaen called out, informing Hess of his plan.

Hess had gone over so many things with him about today and the need for small words that both knew and could react to.

They had cleared the open ground and were now in the tents and other small furniture pieces these bandits had set up for lounging on.  Hess was making his way to the woman who appeared to be struggling to stand up.  As he crashed through their outer range of things, the woman turned, shocked, and saw Hess closing the distance quickly.  He was only seconds away from reaching her.

Her right hand, which had been clutching her left shoulder, now started to radiate fire.  Her face snarled at him as she turned sideways and prepared to unleash her attack upon him.

Hess chuckled the moment the woman had begun to turn, hefting his weapon at her, watching as her eyes went wide and her face lost its unpleasant look.

His massive mace caught her right in her chest, knocking her back and causing the spell she had begun to cast to launch off in the direction of the tents.

No movement was wasted after he had thrown his weapon, reaching his hand to his back during his next stride and freeing his other one.

Kaen followed behind Hess, having seen him toss his mace but never getting to see it hit.

“Eleven and one!” shouted Hess as he knocked over a table and sent papers and things flying.

The sound of an arrow striking Hess’s shield rang out as Kaen saw him pull it up enough to block what was coming.

Dashing to the left, Kaen moved and saw the archer pivoting to their left, grabbing an arrow and preparing to shoot again.

Lifting his bow, Kaen let it fly the moment he had a clear shot between the tents and Hess.

It flashed across the space, and Kaen almost tripped when he saw the man suddenly twist his body and dodge the arrow mere moments before it would have struck him on the side.

“Focus one!” Hess called out, seeing what the man had done, preparing for the man with the sword who was seconds away from him.

Kaen quickly moved back behind Hess and started to prepare to position for being on his other side.  His mouth went dry, realizing someone had just dodged an arrow he knew he could not.

How tough can these guys be?